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With a nod to the inimitable Learyfan, I'd like to offer an audio recording of Ram Dass speaking in 1989 on the sacramental use of psychedelics. He's contrasting the sacramental use of chemicals with an escapist kind of experience.

I've been looking for Ram Dass mp3's for the longest time, but I can't find any. Actually, I think I saw a ton of them the first time I entered "ram dass" in Soul Seek and thought "cool, I guess Soul Seek has these regularly". Never saw them again after that. Last time I saw one was on Napster.

i've heard of that guy in a high times...we all thought it was really funny that his name was ram dass... just sorta sounds funny when you say it really fast. Didnt know he spoke alike that and stuff... very cool.

Learyfan: I've got another one here where he talks about the Good Friday Experiment, and an interesting take on the "bad trip" phenomena and its relationship to prohibition. Also some stuff about fostering the sacramental experience. Will try again to upload it a little later (modem chokes on uploads over 3 megs).

You all know he was a tenured Professor of Psychology at Harvard when his journey began around 1960. Richard Alpert was his given name (a little less confusing ).

Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean,
My fist got hard and my wits got keen,
I'd roam from town to town to hide my shame.
But I made a vow to the moon and stars
That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars
And kill that man who gave me that awful name.______________________

No one is calling for the overthrow of the government or encouraging illegal activities of any kind.

I agree that folks should hear this guy. He addresses many of the questions that come up in this forum. Of particular note to me are his thoughts on the zeitgeist. Things have come such a long way in the last 40 or so years.

From a talk he gave in 1989 called "Spirituality and Psychedelics".

Here?s a link to a timeline that will provide some context to those who might be interested. Consciousness Timeline

dangers of being overwhelmed by bad psychological stuff on powerful psychedelics (bad trips), LSD preparations, guides, trust your heart, do not be pressured into taking the medicine, not necessary for transformation, methods, practices and traps, pot smoking, paranoia and politics, every method is a trap, freedom is the goal, Judith?s insight, spinback cycles, wiser with dope, the role of guru, cost to having a method that is illegal, no long term damage from marijuana use, motivational shifts, depression, paranoia in the culture, drug casualty to menche, more interested in what gets me down that what gets me high, sit with the boring into the beauty, more is better -> enough is enough, what is it feeding into your journey to becoming a free human being

glad you saw this lucid. he speaks to some of the things you've talked about here recently.

Yup, Freak lent me his book "journey of awakening", and
he's also alluded to in all the Mark Epstien books I've
been reading ("Thoughts without a thinker", "Going to pieces
without falling apart", "Going on Being"). Epstien really
holds him in high regard, so I started reading up on
him too. Don't know much about him as a person tho.
Tried to dig up dirt on google but havn't really delved
into it yet. He seems like an honest guy tho, but he has
made some major money with his guru status/books etc.
That's the sceptic in me talking...